King Sethy I ruled for around a decade in the early thirteenth century bc. His lifetime coincided with a critical point in Egyptian history, following the ill-starred religious revolution of Akhenaten, and heralding the last phase of Egypt’s imperial splendor. As the second scion of a wholly new royal family, his reign did much to set the agenda for the coming decades, both at home and abroad. Sethy was also a great builder, apparently with exquisite artistic taste, to judge from the unique quality of the decoration of his celebrated monuments at Abydos and Thebes. Today we will explore Sethy’s career and monuments, not only in his own era, but also in more recent times, and the impact of his legacy on today’s understanding and appreciation of ancient Egypt.
Professor Aidan Dodson studied at Durham, Liverpool and Cambridge Universities, receiving his PhD in 1995, and being elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2003. He has taught at the University of Bristol since 1996, and was appointed honorary Professor of Egyptology in 2018; he was Simpson Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo for the spring of 2013, and Chair of Trustees of the Egypt Exploration Society from 2011 to 2016. He is the author of 26 books, including Sethy I, King of Egypt: his life and afterlife (American University in Cairo Press, 2018).More details soon.
Entry: £15 Egyptology Scotland members, £20 non-members